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Category Archives: books

I’ve had this post in the making for a long time and actually can’t remember where I found it! I know that’s committing some sort of blogger sin! But anyway, on to the tag.

1. Do you have a specific place at home to read in?
I tend to read in the bath or in bed. Sometimes I’ll go in the bath just to read my book for an hour haha I try to read every night before bed.

2. Where do you like to read?
In the bath.

3. Do you use a bookmark or piece of paper?
If I’m reading an actual physical book (quite rare these days) then I use a bookmark.

4. Can you just stop reading or do you have to get to the end of the chapter?
I prefer to get to the end of a chapter. When reading on my Kindle it tells you in minutes how long a chapter will be. If I don’t think I can stay awake that long, then I won’t bother starting.

5. Do you eat or drink whilst reading?
Not usually

6. E-reader or real book?
Both have their advantages. I like that you can take lots of books anywhere with you on a Kindle. However, there are certain books I think need to be real books e.g. autobiographies with pictures in or large coffee table books

7. Music or television whilst reading?
I’ll have music on whilst I read but it tends to be classical otherwise I end up singing along and not actually reading.

8. One book at a time or several?
One at a time otherwise I’d just get confused.

9. Read at home or everywhere?
I tend to only read at home but I’ll take my Kindle on holiday or on long drives or if I know I might be waiting somewhere a while e.g. doctor’s surgery.

10. Reading aloud or silently?
Silently.

11. Fiction or non-fiction?
I tend to read a lot of fiction. The only non-fiction I tend to read is auto biographies, although I haven’t read one of those in a long time.

12. Do you read ahead or skip pages?
Never!

13. Break the spine or keep the book like new?
I don’t break the spine intentionally but they do end up breaking when you read books, especially thicker books.

14. Do you write in books?
No!

15. What is your favourite book?
Tricky! I really enjoyed The Light of the Fireflies by Paul Pen which I read last summer. The Harry Potter books will always be favourites too.

16. Do you buy books new or second-hand?
I tend to just buy for my Kindle so obviously they’re new but I have bought lots of books from charity shops.

I read a lovely blog post here on modernmrsdarcy about how to help kids love to read. I always loved reading as a child and still do now, although more time to read would always be a nice thing!

As a keen reader from childhood and a Nursery Nurse it’s fair to say I’ve read a lot of children’s books! So I thought I’d write a little guide to some of my all time favourite children’s books.

All images courtesy of Amazon

I had to start with this book. I’ve owned Five Minutes Peace since I was 3 years old and I still have my dog-eared copy now. It’s been through some transitions with me from my Mum having to read it to me, to me learning to read it myself, to me reading it to children whilst doing my Nursery Nurse training. It’s a fun story of Mrs Large (pictured) trying to get Five Minutes Peace from her children but they keep coming in and disturbing her.

Can’t You Sleep Little Bear? is another book that I’ve owned since childhood and still have my original copy and again it’s been through the same life transitions as Five Minutes Peace. Little Bear is scared of the dark so Big Bear brings him lanterns but they still don’t get rid of the dark all around outside. This book is one I enjoyed from being a little older around 5-7.

The Sneetches is a great story but what I’m going to tell you about is a story inside it called Too many Daves. Dr Seuss is a must on any child’s bookcase and Too Many Daves is the ultimate for me. When I read this story to children they laugh out loud. It has that marvellous language Dr Seuss uses and has a plethora of funny names in it that will make children belly laugh and the name Soggy Muff might even raise a smile from adults 😉

Judith Kerr writes the most beautiful children’s books and she illustrates them herself too. The Tiger Who Came To Tea is just so olde worlde and is magical. I love how they buy Tiger Food from the supermarket at the end like it’s the most normal thing in the world.

Mog The Forgetful Cat or any Mog book for that matter is a must read to children. Mog is a forgetful cat who gets in to bother but everyone is happy when she saves the day.

I’ve only discovered Grumpy Cat quite recently but it is such a sweet story. Grumpy Cat isn’t really grumpy, he’s just lonely but he doesn’t know how to approach the other cats. Then along comes Kitten who saves him from a life of loneliness.